The Community Climate Change Forum is an opportunity for the people of Central Otago to have their voices heard on the issue of climate change.
Rather than present information to a passive audience, the goal of the event is to solicit ideas from across the local community as to how Central Otago might respond to both the threats and opportunities posed by climate change. Three short talks over dinner will set the stage for the main roundtable discussion. The forum is free and is being organised by Bodeker Scientific and MAD4CO (Making a Difference for Central Otago) under the sponsorship of the Deep South National Science Challenge.
For more information or to register please visit the link below:
We invite you to complete this brief survey about the climate change engagement activities that your organisation conducts.
The survey has been developed to “take a pulse” on engagement activities occurring around the country. This will help us to make strategic decisions with regard to our engagement programme, and also hopefully be a useful resource to everyone working in this space. Please share widely.
If you have any questions about the survey, or would like to know more about the Deep South Challenge and its engagement programme, please contact [email protected]. For technical questions or issues about the survey, please contact [email protected]. You can also subscribe to updates from the Challenge at http://www.deepsouthchallenge.co.nz/updates
Hei ngā maunga, hei ngā reo, hei ngā iwi, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā tātou katoa. Tēnā koutou i ō tātou aituā maha e hinga atu nā, e takoto mai rā i ō tātou marae. Koutou te hunga para i te huarahi, haere koutou. Hoki atu ki te okiokinga mō te tangata i te wāhi ngaro. Tātou e takatū tonu nei hei urupā mō rātou, tēnā anō tātou katoa.
Tēnei mātou a Taihoro Nukurangi, a NIWA e korihi nei, e mihi kau atu ki ngā tōpito e whā, ki ngā tini kārangatanga maha, ki ngā whare wānanga otiiā ngā wāhi mahi rangahau puta noa i te motu.
Nau mai, haere mai ki tō tātou kaupapa, e kiiā nei ko te `Komata o te tonga’, me kī `Deep South’, tētehi o Ngā Wero Pūtaiao-ā-motu. Ko tōna kaupapa matua, ko te wāhanga Pūnaha Hihiko e hāngai pū tonu ki ngā rerekētanga o te āhuarangi me ōna tikanga katoa. Heoti anō rā, he pānui tēnei ki a koutou, he pūtea e wātea ana mō te hunga mātanga rangahau Māori. Nō reira pānuihia mai ngā whakamārama e whai ake nei.
This Challenge will enable New Zealanders to adapt, manage risk, and thrive in a changing climate. Working with our communities and industry, we will guide planning and policy to enhance resilience and exploit opportunities. This will be built on improved predictions of future climate, supported by new understanding of Antarctic and Southern Ocean processes. The Challenge will focus on the effects of a changing climate on key climate sensitive economic sectors, infrastructure and natural resources.
Research that is substantive and transformative will be undertaken in the Deep South National Science Challenge across five key programmes:
Engagement
Vision Mātauranga
Impacts and Implications
Earth System Modelling and Prediction
Processes and Observations
The Deep South Challenge is now seeking proposals that will contribute transformative research outcomes for Māori and wider Aotearoa/New Zealand through the Science Programme: Vision Mātauranga.
This programme will give effect to the MBIE Vision Mātauranga policy through strategic planning and research. Project proposals will be built around the four research themes identified in the Deep South Challenge Research and Business Plan. These four themes were determined through direct engagement with senior Māori advisors and researchers involved with Māori-specific climate change matters and decision-making. The four research themes are:
Potential projects will be funded up to a maximum of $250k (excl. GST). It is anticipated that successful applicants will commence their projects on 1 October 2015 or as soon as practicable thereafter, for a period of up to 24 months.
Applications will need to complete the first three documents as listed below. The fourth document is provided to demonstrate how projects will be assessed. Please pass on this information to other investigators involved in your project.
New Zealanders have just experienced one of the driest summers on record – great for beachgoers and cricket lovers, but far from ideal for farmers and orchardists relying on rain to maintain productivity.
This year’s ‘big dry’ comes just two years after the last widespread summer drought, which is estimated to have cost the rural sector $1 billion in lost earnings.
New Zealand’s climate appears to be changing. Droughts seem more intense and frequent, windstorms more violent, rainstorms and snowstorms more crippling. The rural sector in particular has faced unprecedented challenge brought about by recent extreme weather events.
So is this the new reality? Is our climate changing faster than first thought? How should the country respond to what’s happening and prepare for what’s yet to come?
Deep South, one of 11 National Science Challenges confirmed by the Government following wide stakeholder and public consultation, will seek answers to these critically important questions.
Professor David Frame, an internationally renowned climate researcher at Victoria University of Wellington, recently appointed Director of the NIWA-hosted Challenge, says scientists are making progress in understanding the links between extreme weather events and climate change.
“Climate scientists are adopting techniques from medical researchers to establish how the odds of various events, like droughts, are likely to change in the coming decades.”
“We are making progress, but different events have different meteorological drivers, and in some cases we can’t yet say as much as we would like because models can’t yet simulate all the relevant features.”
“What we can say, however, is that the extreme events we’ve experienced recently are a cause for people to think about how they prepare for a changing climate. Most New Zealanders now have an appreciation of the kind of weather the country could experience increasingly in the years to come. They understand the need to prepare for its impacts now.”
Deep South will significantly intensify research into the nature of New Zealand’s changing climate, and the likely impacts of that change on New Zealand society over the coming decades and centuries. Studies will focus on Antarctica and the Southern Ocean (our ‘Deep South’), areas that play an important part in shaping weather systems and long-term climate patterns affecting New Zealand. Research in this part of the world has been piecemeal, or lacking altogether, until now.
Leading-edge technology, including a new Earth Systems Model that will utilise the advanced processing power of NIWA’s supercomputer in Wellington, and unprecedented multi-sector collaboration will be keys to the success of the challenge.
“Deep South will bring together the country’s most respected thought leaders working at the interface of science, business and public policy,” says Roger France, Chairman of the Deep South Governance Board. “Their goal is to transform the way New Zealanders can adapt, manage risk and thrive in a changing climate. Their work will focus on drought, freshwater availability, flooding, coastal erosion and damaging storms, and their impacts on businesspeople, planners, regulators, Māori and New Zealand communities as a whole.”
“This is an ambitious undertaking that has the potential to transform New Zealand society,” says Dr Rob Murdoch, NIWA’s General Manager of Research, who played a pivotal role in shaping the mission and terms of reference for Deep South. “We shouldn’t underestimate the work involved but we believe that by combining our collective strength and expertise and directing it into world-class research projects we have the ability to address one of the world’s most important issues.”
Partners in the challenge are NIWA, Antarctica New Zealand, GNS Science, Landcare Research, New Zealand Antarctic Research Institute, University of Otago and Victoria University of Wellington.
The Minister, Steven Joyce, officially launched the Deep South National Science Challenge (NSC) at the NIWA Wellington campus on 5 August 2014. The launch was well attended, and Prof Dave Frame (Victoria University of Wellington) provided a great introduction to the science of the Deep South.
Establishment of the Deep South NSC
The Science Board of the Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment (MBIE) approved funding of $24 million to 30 June 2018 to support the Deep South proposal submitted in late April 2014. This included initial funding of $450,000 for an establishment phase. This funding was subject to the following pre-contract conditions, which have now been met:
A budget for the use of the $450,000.
Establishment of the independent Governance Board Chair to the satisfaction of the MBIE Science Board Chair.
An agreed interim Management Group.
There were also a number of contract conditions that needed to be addressed:
Submission (by mid-December 2014) of a detailed Research Plan and Business Plan that refines the proposal research strategy and programme out to 30 June 2018.
Appointment of the Governance Board, Director and Management Group.
The interim Governance Group and Management Group (see Deep South website for membership of these Groups) are currently in the process of advancing initiatives (outline further below) to meet the above contract conditions. This includes contract negotiations between MBIE and NIWA (as Contract holder and on behalf of the research provider parties to the Deep South), and signing of the Contract is expected to occur within the next month.
The MBIE Science Board also stressed the following points that need to be considered as the Deep South progresses over the coming years:
The Challenge needs to stay true to its mission and vision (see the Deep South website for the MBIE approved mission and vision).
The Challenge needs to avoid reverting to ‘business as usual’ throughout its duration. This will require rigorous independent governance and excellent management arrangements.
The balance of effort between the planned research and the communication, outreach and research uptake activities needs to be maintained throughout the duration of the Challenge.
Governance – appointment of the permanent Chair
We are pleased to announce that Roger France has agreed to Chair the Governance Board of Deep South. Roger’s early career focussed on finance, both nationally and internationally. He was the Chief Financial Officer for Allied Farmers Co-operative Ltd and Freightway Holdings Ltd, and was a member of the Management Board of Pricewaterhouse Cooper. Roger is currently a Director of Air New Zealand, Fisher & Paykel Healthcare Corporation and Orion Health Group, and has been a Director for the Fonterra Co-operative Group. He was appointed to the Council of the University of Auckland in 2001, and was Chancellor from 2009-2012. Roger is excited by the mission that the Deep South aims to address, and brings a wealth of experience in governance to the Challenge. This is an exciting and significant appointment which will help advance the establishment of the Deep South.
Establishment of the Deep South website
Over the past few weeks we have been establishing an independent website for the Deep South NSC. Clearly the website will require considerable development, and is expected to change and evolve over the life of the Challenge. One of the primary purposes of setting up the website as soon as practicable was to ensure that we had a vehicle for communicating information about the Challenge to the wider science community and stakeholders. We have established a subscription system via the website for future access to Deep South Newsletters.
Process for appointment of Director
The interim Governance Group is currently in the process of advancing the appointment of the permanent Director for the Deep South. Information on the recruitment process and a Position Description for the Director will be available on the Deep South website shortly. Rob Murdoch will continue to be the interim Director until such time as the permanent Director is appointed.
Appointment of Challenge Manager
The interim Governance Group is pleased to announce that Richard Nottage will undertake the role of Challenge Manager. In this role Richard will provide project and management support for the Deep South Director. Richard is currently fulfilling a similar role for the New Zealand Climate Change Centre. As such, he is familiar with climate issues and stakeholders. Richard will be a valuable member of the Deep South Management Group, and will be assisting the interim Director with organisation of activities associated with the development of the Research Plan over the coming months.
Research plan workshops
Over the coming two months the interim Management Group will be organising workshops and meetings to advance the Research Plan for Deep South that will need to be submitted by mid-December. These workshops will be based on further developing and prioritising the research work over the next five years associated with each of the proposed research programmes provided in the proposal outline approved by the MBIE Science Board. These workshops will seek input from representatives not only from the science sector, but also climate sensitive industry sectors, central and local government, Maori and communities. Planning for these workshops is currently underway, and further information will be made available on the website as it becomes available.
